Improvement in harvesters



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

w. DE WITT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,090., dated January 7, 1862. V

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WV. DE WITT, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and complete description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is aplan view. Fig. 2 is aside view. Fig. 3 is an end view. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of Fig. 1 in the direction of the line 00 m. Fig. 5 is a view of the cam-latch or key.

Similar letters of reference refer to like parts in the different views.

The nature of my invention relates to a de vice for raising and holding a flexible cutterbar, so as to pass readily and easily over obstructions, and at the same time allowthe cutter-bar to fall below the level of the wheels, and

to render it firm, so that it cannot be depressed at any point of its elevation, as hereinafter described.

Figs. 1, 2, and 3 represent the general view of a harvester to which my improvement is attached.

A and B are spring-bars secured to the un der side of the frame, to which ,the brace O, that supports the finger-bar, is secured.

D is the shoe of the finger-bar F, connected to the brace O by pivots or pins D, on which it moves.

E is an adjustable cam-latch or key connected to the brace Oby apin, I, or its equivalent, passing through the slot e, Figs. 2 and 5, in the key. To the upper end of this key is' attached the chain H, that is secured to the lever L at J, by means of which it is operated, the lever L moving in the socket or fulcrum M,secured to the top of the frame. The key E is formed of one or more inclined planes, constituting a projection or lip, N, of such a shape asto form a fulcrum, when power is applied to raise and lower the finger-bar, rendering it flexible only in one direction, and at the same time preventing it from being depressed at any point of its elevation. WVhen the finger-bar is parallel with the ground, the key is in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3; but the key will admit of the finger-bar being let down farther in the direction of the line A in Fig. 3, if desired. When the cutter-bar is first elevated by raising the lever L, the key moving on the pin I, and by means of the lip N,under the brace G,acting-as a fulcrum, the lower end of thekey is made to press against the shoe D, as shown in Fig. 4, inclining the shoe and cutter-bar upward. They are then lifted in that position as indicated by the'dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3.

WVith this arrangement the cutter-bar can be adjusted to mow below the lower plane of the wheels, or above it, thus being particularly well adapted to an uneven surface, for if one or both wheels are elevated the bar can be adjusted to out below them, and it can be elc vated to pass over any obstacle.

As the cutter-bar is inclined upward toward I the end, it is not necessary to raise the shoe and heel of the bar so high as in the ordinary way in passing over obstacles. Consequently less lifting is required. The inclination of the cutter-bar upward and its elevation are simultaneous.

\VhatI claim as my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The adjustable slotted cam-latch or key- E, connected to the machine at or near the heel of the finger-bar, and operated in combination therewith by means of the lever L, in the manner and for the purpose specified.

WV. DE VVITT.

IVitnesses:

WV. H. BURRIDGE, A. MCCLELLAND. 

